Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Patients Confused by ACO Outreach Letters, Doctors Say

Several Ventura County physicians have expressed concern about letters that some of their Medicare patients have received about a new Southern California-based accountable care organization program. The letters from Heritage California ACO tell Medicare beneficiaries -- some of whom are treated by doctors who are not part of the Heritage Provider Network -- that they automatically will be enrolled in the ACO program unless they opt out.